Though
a specific launch date has not yet been announced, news surrounding
Windows Phone 7 is beginning to increase. Last
week, DailyTech reported handsets
sporting beta versions of the upcoming OS made their rounds for
developers and reviewers. More
recently, Pocket-lintconfirmed Microsoft's
launch partners for Windows Phone 7, including Dell, ASUS, LG,
HTC, and Samsung.

The
recent news confirms the existence of a number of Windows Phone 7
handsets in development, including Dell's
Lightning, and the LG Pacific. Greg Sullivan, Microsoft's
senior product manager, told Pocket-lint that
at least five handsets would be available at launch, sporting both
full-Qwerty and touchscreen configurations.

Sullivan
also confirmed that Windows Phone 7 will not be carrier-specific,
opting for Google's Android route instead of Apple's iPhone model.

"We
want as many people as possible to be able to get it", Sullivan
said.

He
said he hoped the new OS would be a top contender among Android OS,
Apple's iOS, and RIM's Blackberry OS.

"We
will offer the best aspects of Android and the best of the iPhone,
giving users the flexibility of different form factors, but with the
rigidity of apps that are guaranteed to work on every device that is
out there," Sullivan told Pocket-lint.

Microsoft
is hoping its new smartphone OS will parallel the recent success of
Windows 7, which earned
it a record Q4 profit. The company's latest mobile offering, the
KIN line, ended
in failure when
Microsoft pulled the handsets just two months after launch, thanks to
paltry sales numbers.

Early
reviews of Windows Phone 7, running on a Samsung device that Sullivan
said would not be available at launch, have been mixed at best. The
OS still lacks
a copy-and-paste function and third-party
multi-tasking. Facebook users are forced to combine all of their
Facebook friends into the phone's contact list upon logging into the
application. On the positive side, the OS has a decent version of
Internet Explorer, an informative homescreen, nice camera results and
music player.

"It looks like the iPhone 4 might be their Vista, and I'm okay with that." -- Microsoft COO Kevin Turner